Definition
In Roman and civil law, a stepson — specifically, a son brought to a marriage by one spouse from a prior union. The term identifies the child's relational status to the step-parent rather than any blood connection: a prtvignus is the son of a husband or wife by a former marriage, now residing within or connected to a new household formed by remarriage.
The feminine counterpart is privigna (stepdaughter). Together, these terms formed part of the Roman civil law vocabulary for blended family relationships, which the classical jurists analyzed with considerable precision for purposes of inheritance, guardianship, and the prohibited degrees of marriage.
Why It Matters in Research
This is a term of Roman and civil law provenance, and researchers are most likely to encounter it in three contexts:
First, in civil law jurisdictions and mixed legal systems — including early Louisiana, Quebec, and jurisdictions influenced by Spanish or French colonial law — family relationship terminology drawn from the Latin tradition appears in probate records, wills, guardianship proceedings, and succession disputes. A prtvignus named in a civil law instrument is a stepson, not a biological son, and the distinction carries inheritance consequences.
Second, in historical common law treatises and digests that incorporated Roman law learning, particularly those addressing prohibited degrees of consanguinity and affinity in marriage law or ecclesiastical proceedings. Canon law borrowed heavily from Roman family terminology, and prtvignus may appear in contexts involving impediments to marriage.
Third, in scholarly editions and translations of the Corpus Juris Civilis and related civil law texts. Researchers working with Justinian's Digest or Institutes, or with continental jurists such as Cujas or Donellus, will encounter the term in discussions of the patria potestas, tutorship, and succession.
Note the archival spelling trap: the headword as it appears in Black's 2nd Edition Supplemental is rendered "Prtvignus" — almost certainly a typographical artifact of the print era, where the letter "i" was dropped or obscured in typesetting. The correct Latin form is privignus. Researchers searching digitized historical sources should query both spellings to avoid missed results.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Edition, Supplemental) defines the term concisely: "In the civil law. A son of a husband or wife by a former marriage; a step-son." The entry cites Calvin — a reference to Johannes Calvinus (Johann Kahl), whose Lexicon Iuridicum (first published 1600, with later editions) was a standard Latin legal dictionary widely used as a reference authority for civil law terminology. This citation pattern is consistent with how Black's handled Roman law terms in this era: terse definition, single classical or lexicographic authority, no elaboration on doctrinal use.
The entry provides no guidance on the term's operation within specific civil law rules — its significance in the Digest's treatment of succession, the prohibited degrees affecting marriage between a man and his prtvigna (stepdaughter), or the question of whether a privignus fell within the patria potestas of the stepfather. Researchers needing that doctrinal depth must go beyond Black's to the primary civil law sources or to institutional treatises on Roman family law.
The spelling irregularity ("Prtvignus" rather than "privignus") is not explained in the source and almost certainly reflects a typesetting error in the print edition rather than an intentional variant. Treat it accordingly.
Jurisdictional Note
The term is operative primarily in civil law jurisdictions and in historical legal instruments drafted under civil law influence. It has no technical function in modern American common law family law, where "stepson" and "stepchild" are the operative terms. In early Louisiana and other civil law territories, Latin relational terminology in succession documents may require translation using civil law lexicons rather than common law dictionaries.